CEBU, Philippines — Cebu is among the 26 areas chosen to conduct mock elections on January 19, according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Four barangays—Poblacion and Cabutongan in Santander town, Cebu and Mabolo and Lusaran in Cebu City—were chosen by the Comelec central office to take part in the simulated polls.

In the Visayas, all sites for the mock polls are in Central Visayas, said Comelec-7 Regional Director Rafael Olaño.

The other testing sites are in Albuquerque and Cortes towns in Bohol.

A total of 400 registered voters in Cebu will participate in the mock polls from 6 a.m. to 12 noon. Each village will have 100 voters.

The mock polls target to check the accuracy of the Vote Counting Machines (VCM).

Also, the mock elections will help the poll body identify and correct problems that may crop up during the May 13 elections.

“…So we can prepare for contingency measures,” said Provincial Election Supervisor Jerome Brillantes.

The mock elections and two of the major Fiesta Señor activities—Fluvial Procession and Holy Procession— are happening at the same time.

There will be no cellphone signal in the cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu as part of the security measures.

Cellphone signal in the three cities will be jammed from 3 a.m. to 10 a.m. during the Fluvial Procession. Signal will also be jammed from 12 noon to 8 p.m. in uptown and downtown Cebu City in time for the Holy Procession.

Instead of seeing the signal shutdown as a threat, Olaño said it is an opportunity for them to test their existing contingency plans.

Among the contingency measures is the use of a Local Area Network (LAN) to transmit the voting results to the city or municipal board of canvassers.

If it will not work, Comelec is set to use satellite-based technology as its last resort. — KBQ (FREEMAN)

President Duterte is seeking common ground with Beijing on the planned joint exploration in Philippine waters and has not abandoned the 2016 arbitral court ruling favoring the Philippine position on the South China Sea, Malacañang told Vice President Leni Robredo yesterday.

Malacañang on Saturday slammed Vice President Leni Robredo for criticizing President Rodrigo Duterte’s openness to ignore the Philippines’ legal victory in the South China Sea and seal an energy deal with Beijing, saying she needs new advisers who can comprehend the maritime row.

The US Navy said that one of its destroyers had sailed close to the Chinese-controlled Paracel Islands in the South China Sea on Friday, asserting international freedom of navigation rights in the contested waters.

Under Philippine law, President Rodrigo Duterte does not have the authority to "set aside" the July 2016 ruling issued by the Permanent Court of Arbitration, Supreme Court Senior Associate Antonio Carpio said.